When the 2020 Oscar nominations were announced on Monday, it was clear the Academy had egregiously snubbed the work of women, including Greta Gerwig’s directorial efforts in Little Women and Jennifer Lopez’s acting in Hustlers. Plenty of people went off on Twitter, but the actual stars of Little Women decided to add their voices to the conversation, with Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh opening up about how Gerwig’s undertaking as a director should have been recognized.
Ronan (Jo March in the film) and Pugh (Amy March), were both nominated for their acting in the movie. Little Women also got nods for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design Achievements, and Original Score. However, despite how well-received Gerwig’s adaptation was, she was conspicuously missing from a nomination list of all-male directors, a category that has historically left out women. Pugh had strong feelings about what Gerwig getting iced out means, telling Deadline it’s “a big blow, especially because she created a film that is so her and so unique and it’s just come out of her, and it’s been a story she’s wanted to do for so long.”
She continued, “I think everybody’s angry and quite rightly so. I can’t believe it’s happened again, but I don’t really know how to solve it. I don’t know what the answer is, other than we’re talking about it.”
Ronan, who also starred in Gerwig’s Lady Bird, also told Deadline, “I’m really happy that the Academy recognized [Gerwig] for Adapted Screenplay and Picture, and I feel like if you’ve been nominated for Best Picture, you have essentially been nominated for Best Director,” she said. “But to me, Greta, since she started, has made two perfect films, and I hope when she makes her next perfect movie, she gets recognized for everything, because I think she’s one of the most important filmmakers of our time.”
We hope so too.
